Finding the Best Drinking Water Filter for Your Homes

by Customer Care January 11, 2021

If you are on our blog, then you are probably looking for the best drinking water filter for your home. Filtering your own drinking water is a great way to know that you and your family always have access to safe, clean water in your home. We offer a wide range of high performance Everpure home filtration systems that can help combat any issues that you might be having with your home’s water quality.

Common issues

When it comes to water filtration, there is usually a distinct reason that leads to homeowners trying to find the best drinking water filter for their homes. Even if you have not noticed any obvious signs of waterborne contamination, it is always a good idea to add a water filter to your home in order to know that you are drinking clean and filtered water. Today, we will start off by looking at a few of the most common water quality complaints that we hear about and their causes.

Turbidity - Also known as cloudiness, turbidity is an issue caused by an abundance of dissolved particles in your water. These tiny particles, which can be anything from silt to organic matter, disperse light as it passes through your water, resulting in cloudiness and low clarity. Sometimes water with a high turbidity may have an otherwise normal taste, but a glass of turbid water is definitely never someone’s first option.
Odor - The next most common issue we hear about is foul smelling water. The two main sources of foul odors are organic and chemical compounds. Organic compounds in our water are typically a result of decaying matter or the presence of algae or microbes in water and will produce a foul or sewage like odor. Chemical smells are usually the result of residual compounds from water purifications systems such as chlorine and chloramine compounds. Even at levels that are technically safe to consume, these compounds can make your water unpalatable.
Taste - Closely tied to the issue of smell is taste. If your water has a noticeable odor, then the taste will probably also be hard to deal with. In some cases you can have one without the other, though most of the time foul tastes will be the result of decay or cleaning compounds like foul odors. You may also experience the issue of metallic tasting water if rust or other metallic contaminants make their way into your water supply.
Hard and Soft water - The final issue we hear about is hard and soft water issues. The hardness of water is determined by the amount of dissolved ions found in your water. Some ions, like calcium and magnesium, can cause scaling and lime buildup on faucets and appliances. Filtration systems with ion exchange materials can help to remove these metallic ions from your water so you will not have to worry about damaging your water using appliances like coffee makers and kettles.

All of these factors are an obvious sign that your home has a water quality issue. Filtration can help reduce or eliminate the presence of these issues, but there are also a number of contaminants that are not so easily detected. Heavy metals like lead can be present at dangerous levels in drinking water without being detected using only your sense of taste, sight and smell. This is also true of a wide range of volatile organic compounds that can be potentially harmful even at minute concentrations.

Our Filters

Luckily, installing a dedicated water filtration system in your home can help to combat all of these issues and leave you with clean, freshly filtered drinking water. We offer Everpure home filtration systems that are designed to be mounted underneath your kitchen sink. This means that your water is going to be filtered directly before consumption, ensuring a great taste glass everytime.

In order to get filtered water from your system, you will need to install a dedicated faucet to dispense your water. We typically recommend using a small air gap gooseneck faucet and you can find several options in the “Dispensers and Faucets” section of our shop under the “Drinking Water” category. In addition to the options we carry, you can also find hundreds of other small faucets on the market if you need to find a fixture to perfectly match the look and feel of your kitchen.

If installing a new fixture in your kitchen does not sound ideal for you, then we do have other options. Our full flow filtration systems are designed to dispense filtered water using the cold water side of your faucet instead of requiring a dedicated dispenser. This means that you can still use the hot water side of your kitchen sink for everyday cleaning tasks, while using the cold water side for drinking and cooking. These systems require a slightly different installation process compared to our standard filter systems, but they are just as easy to use.

No matter what type of filter you choose for your home, the installation process is shockingly easy. All you need are a few hand tools and a little mechanical aptitude, but no plumbing knowledge is necessary. If you can tighten a bolt, screw a few screws, and make some simple measurements and cuts, then you should be able to install your new system without any issues! You may need to add a hole to your countertop if you are installing a standard system, but this can be easily achieved with a few different tools depending on your countertop’s composition. Once your new system is installed, all you have to do is screw in the cartridge, run the system for a few minutes to purge any trapped air, and then enjoy always having filtered water when you need it.

Filter cartridges

The actual filtration is going to occur inside of your system’s cartridge. These metal cylinders are more advanced than the small plastic filtered water pitcher cartridges that many homeowners are familiar with using. Instead of containing large pellets of carbon filtration media, Everpure cartridges use a fine filtration media called Micro-Pure. This carbon based media is a proprietary blend that is designed to operate at the high pressure of home water lines.

Our popular H series filters contain media coated membranes arranged in a pleated pattern. This helps to increase the surface area of the media and improve the flow rate of your system. The other systems on our site that do not begin with an H all use carbon block filters. These filters use nearly blocks of carbon to provide amazing water quality and a long filter lifespan.

All of our home Everpure water filter cartridges are capable of removing particles as small as half a micron from your drinking water. To put that into perspective, a micron is one millionth of a meter in size. A strand of hair is about 50 microns wide, which means that our filters can remove contaminants that are 100 times smaller than the width of a single hair, leaving you with incredibly clean water. This size restriction also means that our filtration systems will not remove the essential minerals that are naturally found in your drinking water.

The lifespan of these cartridges is determined by how many gallons of water they can filter. This value can range from hundreds to thousands of gallons per cartridge. This long lifespan means that many homeowners only have to replace their cartridges once per year. You will know it is time to replace your filter cartridge when the flow rate from your system starts to noticeably decline. We recommend replacement filter cartridges at least annually even if you do not notice any issues with filter performance.

The replacement process only takes a few minutes and is about as complicated as changing a lightbulb. Typically this is the only maintenance that your filter system will need. If you notice that you have to change cartridges frequently, then you might want to consider upgrading to a higher capacity cartridge. Most Everpure cartridges are designed to work using a standard filter head. If you need help finding an upgraded cartridge replacement to go with your current filter system, then one of our filtration specialists will be able to help you find several compatible options.

No matter which cartridge you plan on using, you will be able to enjoy the great saving that comes with using a cartridge filter. Let’s consider someone who only drinks bottled water. A single standard 16.9oz water bottle may cost about a dollar. At a rate of about $1 per bottle, it would cost about $7.50 to drink a gallon of water. This means that a 1000 gallon filter cartridge could produce the equivalent of $7500 in bottled water at final retail value. One of our 1000 gallon H104 filters only costs about $50, which would offer a savings of over 99%!

While no one is going to drink all of their water in the form of $1 bottles, everyone can save some money by making the switch to using a reusable bottle and a home filter system. In the scenario above, your filter cartridge would essentially pay for itself after you drank the equivalent of 7 gallons of water instead of purchasing it by the bottle.

Best Drinking Water Filter Recommendations

After years of working with these systems, we have helped a lot of homeowners find the perfect filtration solution to meet their needs. In turn, we have created a list of filtration systems that we often recommend to our customers. Here are four great filters and a brief description of their unique features:

H300 - Our most popular system, the Everpure H300 is a great option for homeowners who want to try adding a filter to their kitchen sink. These filters use a standard size Everpure cartridge and each cartridge can filter 300 gallons of water. This is one of our smaller cartridge sizes, which means it is a great option for homeowners to gauge just how much water they consume. If your cartridge lasts all year, then there is no reason to upgrade. If not, it is easy to install a replacement with a larger capacity.
H104 - The H104 is another one of our H series filters, which feature pleated filter membranes to improve the flow of water and surface area in home cartridges. Every H104 cartridge can filter an average of 1000 gallons of water, which makes them a great option for households that consume a lot of water.
H54 - They say good things come in small packages and the H54 a shining example of that philosophy. These systems stand at only 15” compared to the usual 22” size of more Everpure systems. This makes them a great choice for small spaces or to install in a camper or RV. They can also help soften water to avoid lime and scale build up.
PBS400 - The last option on our brief list of the best drinking water filters for homes is the PBS400 full flow system. Each of these filter cartridges can produce an average of 1500 gallons of filtered water. Because they are a full flow system, these filters do not require the use of a dispenser, so you can install one without changing the look of your kitchen with a new fixture.

If you’re ready to start enjoying the convenience and savings that comes with using one of our filters, then we are here to help you find the best drinking water filter for your home. If you don’t find a good match in the short list above, feel free to reach out to one of our specialists. After years of working with these filters, our team has helped countless homeowners find the filters they need to start enjoying freshly filtered water right in their own kitchens.